COVID-19: Defence Academy produces ventilators

The Nigerian Defence Academy has designed and produced two types of ventilators, hand wash and sanitiser as its contribution to curb Coronavirus spread in the country.
The NDA’s Public Relations Officer, Major Abubakar Abdullahi, stated this in a statement made available to newsmen on Friday in Kaduna.
Abdullahi said the design and production of the ventilators were to reduce the shortage of the equipment in the fight against COVID-19.
According to him, the NDA’s Commandant, Major General Jamil Sarham, inaugurated a team of engineers, technologists and technicians from the Mechatronics Department to develop an affordable ventilator within the shortest possible time, using readily available components.
He said: “The team was also advised to develop capacity that could produce at least 30 ventilators in a month.
“This is against the backdrop of the high costs of foreign-made ventilators and the present difficulties associated with procuring them.”
The NDA’s spokesperson, while presenting the report of the team to the Commandant, said it was able to, within a week, design and produce two ventilators that could be  deployed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that both ventilators: NDA Type 1 and NDA Type 2, could be reproduced cheaply and that currently the Academy has the capacity of producing 30 units of it in a month.
He said the NDA Type 1 ventilator is a fully automated system with an interactive user-interface and four potentiometres for adjusting air and oxygen parameters.
“Similarly, the NDA Type 2 is also fully automated, operates with a 2 KVA self-sustaining onboard inverter equipped with a military-grade lithium battery,” Abdullahi said.
He noted that both prototypes had been subjected to series of technical performance evaluation tests with impressive results.
“It is worthy to know that apart from the production of the ventilators, the NDA also produced hand wash and sanitisers,” he said.
Abdullahi added that this was to enhance the hygiene and develop washing hand culture within the Academy’s community.
Sarham, while responding to the various research efforts, commended the team.
He pledged to continue to support all research efforts in the Academy aimed at offering  solutions to various problems affecting the country.